DUXBURY — Graduates of Harwood Union High School were told Saturday they don’t hold the world’s future in their hands, but they do hold their own.

Accompanied by the bounciest version of “Pomp and Circumstance” this side of Lake Champlain by the Harwood Jazz Band, approximately 145 students — dressed in black and gold, and some wearing blue sashes to indicate their membership in the National Honors Society — received this bit of wisdom from commencement speaker Rusty DeWees, better known as “The Logger.”

It was the third commencement address at Harwood for actor, comedian and musician DeWees, who told the crowd, “They only had (Gov. Peter) Shumlin once, and it took a flood to get him here.”

At the beginning of his speech, DeWees appeared to eschew his typical attire of a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off in favor of a tie and jacket, but soon shed both to reveal a T-shirt with the handwritten text “Harwood #1” on the front.

DeWees offered several nuggets of wisdom to the grads and their assembled friends and family, including the futility of worrying about the opinions of others.

“Do not put one ounce of energy into worrying what other people think and say about you,” DeWees said. “You wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you realized how seldom they did.”

He rejected the common graduation platitude that the students are about to enter the real world.

“Some of you have completed what might be the hardest four years of your life,” he said, noting the myriad challenges high school students face, from bullying to peer pressure. “As soon as you get your diploma, it could get easier.”

He also refuted the common graduation cliché that the students hold the future in their hands.